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Directed by Elaine May

December 13, 2019 – December 15, 2019

One of American comedy’s great (and relatively unheralded) voices, Elaine May has forged a long and successful career in show business—still going strong on Broadway today. May directed four feature films in Hollywood, some misunderstood at their time of release, others buried and left to languish in obscurity. With hindsight, May is one of the key directors of the New Hollywood period.

A New Leaf

Directed by Elaine May

May, as one half of the legendary comedy team Nichols and May, established herself as a comedic powerhouse on stage …

Ishtar

Directed by Elaine May

A legendarily over-budget film maudit (cursed film) and produced a full eleven years after the release of May’s prior film …

Mikey & Nicky

Directed by Elaine May

A deep departure from Elaine May’s previous two features—A New Leaf (1971) and The Heartbreak Kid (1972)—this New Hollywood picture …

The Heartbreak Kid

The Heartbreak Kid

Directed by Elaine May

Elaine May’s sophomore feature, from an extremely sharp screenplay by Neil Simon, takes the broad slapstick-lite comedy of her debut …

The Northwest Film Center recognizes and honors the Indigenous peoples of this region on whose ancestral lands the museum now stands. These include the Willamette Tumwater, Clackamas, Kathlemet, Molalla, Multnomah and Watlala Chinook Peoples and the Tualatin Kalapuya who today are part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and many other Native communities who made their homes along the Columbia River. We also want to recognize that Portland today is a community of many diverse Native peoples who continue to live and work here. We respectfully acknowledge and honor all Indigenous communities—past, present, future—and are grateful for their ongoing and vibrant presence.